The Cab - 07/08/07

My name is Alex, Alexander, Alexander Michael DeLeon, or Singer and I sing.

Does it ever get confusing having three Alex's in the band?

Haha It’s insane. It’s not too bad though. Having three Alex's in the band definitely did take some getting used to, but it’s pretty fun and makes for a good laugh. When we first started people would say “Alex” and we'd all look and say "what?" simultaneously. It was ridiculous to watch. We’d all look over at the same time and people always made fun of us and said it looked like a dance routine or like synchronized swimming without the water. After awhile we changed it up, so now everyone calls me Singer, Alex Marshall is just Marshall, and Alex Johnson is Drummer. It's cool for people outside of the band though, because if they forget our names, they can just say or guess “Alex” and the odds and numbers are totally in their favor. Maybe it’s a blessing. If we ever all work at a Wal-Mart together and one of us loses our nametag we can just borrow one from another Alex.

You guys just finished high school right? How old are all of you?

Yeah we finished high school a few weeks ago! Thank god. It was insane trying to juggle being in a signed band and studying for finals at the same time. Everyone in the band is currently 18. Marshall just turned 18 last week and he is the youngest.

A lot of your attention that your band is getting has to do a lot with your relationship to your label mates Panic! at the Disco. The Decaydance family has achieved a lot of success recently, but also taken a lot of criticism. Is there anything you want to do differently from the bands you are being associated with? Anything current Decaydance bands are you doing you plan to avoid?

Decaydance is amazing. I don't agree with the criticisms. The bands on the label and everyone that works at the label are all amazing, hard working people and deserve every ounce of success that they have achieved. All of the bands on the label have their unique personality and sound, but still remain one big family. I think we are going to fit in great. Every band on the label has their own way of showcasing their music to the world, and I am in no place to tell any of them what they are doing is wrong. We are just going to do our own thing and hopefully people enjoy it and can relate to it. That's why we’re here in the first place, to bring our style and perspective to the world of music.

Though we haven't seen your debut yet, there are already critics (many of them quite vocal on AP.net) who are ready to accuse you of sounding just like other bands and question your originality. What's your response to this? How do you plan to distinguish yourself from other bands with a similar sound? What is unique to The Cab's sound that you hope to bring across in your debut?

I understand that not only new bands but all bands will always have critics. There isn't one band in the world that EVERY single person in the world absolutely loves. That's the way the scene and the world works. It wouldn't be any fun if everyone liked the same band or the same kind of music. Tha would take away character and personality from the music and its listeners. Not to mention, AP.net wouldn’t be half as fun without the drama and difference in opinion! With us, we have been thrown under the label of an "over poppy band trying to do r and b." This is all pretty funny to me because it seems like if a singer does a few r and b vocal influctions or sings with a little soul they are automatically trying to be another rip off. Singing with soul is a way of singing that will always be around. I sing soulfully because that's what I love and that's what comes out. If that is the reason we are getting compared to other bands, then so be it. That part of our music is never leaving. There have been hundreds of thousands of artists throughout history who write songs and play music. It is impossible to be 100% original because everyone is influenced by someone. For our genre, I do believe we are doing something new and refreshing, and if others disagree, that's okay with me. We aren't here to please the people that don't like us or our sound. I think a lot of people are going to understand it and feel it, and those will be our fans; the people that matter the most. I am just writing, singing, and playing the music that I love. I know it’s hard to base a band from only one or two songs. Our sound will for sure have pop, rock, soul, and funk, and I believe once our album comes out the people will understand that we really aren't doing the same thing as other bands in the scene.

Was there anytime before/during/after the signing to Decaydance that you felt like you weren't going to be able to handle the pressure of the "fame" after seeing the success of bands like Gym Class Heroes and Panic! at the Disco?

The "pressure of fame" is honestly the least of my worries. I worry about EVERYTHING. I am always worried about songs and making sure that they are the best that they can possibly be. I am always freaking out about my voice and keeping it in shape and taking care of it. I am worried about what my mom’s cooking for dinner and what I am doing afterwards with my friends. I worry about the little things and I am, without a doubt my biggest critic. If we get massive and go platinum, awesome! However, if we sell 20,000 records, but we are putting out music that we love, that we are proud of, and that represents us as a band and as people, then I will be fully happy and content with my career as an artist and songwriter.

How do you plan to time your big "coming out" with label backing? You have the money and influence of Decaydance behind you now, are you going to run with that, or take it slow? What's your forecast for the pace of the next year or so?

Having a label doesn't and shouldn't change the music too much. Having a good label really only means that you are going to be marketed and promoted more and your CD is going to reach places it couldn't have without label backing. We don't want to speed and rush into things too fast, but at the same time we do want to get a head start and kind of get into things. I am so damn excited about our recording, releasing, our CD and touring! No one has any idea how excited I am to get this ball rolling. We are just going to ride the wave and see where it takes us. We plan to tour our asses off and get to every place in the country that we possibly can so our music gets to as many ears as possible. Besides that, we are just going to drive and see where the road takes us. We are going to be really busy making and promoting our CD though for sure. If there is one thing I can promise, it's that we are going to be a hard working band.

There's a video on your myspace with Brendon Urie performing with you. Will he be doing guest vocals on your upcoming record?

Brendon and the other guys in Panic are our friends and are great artists and people. Those dudes are seriously some of the most fun, talented, and crazy guys we’ve ever met. We would be honored and flattered if Brendon sang on our album. We have nothing but the utmost respect and love for the guys in Panic and the music they put out. It would be amazing if he ended up contributing vocals to "I'll Run" or any song for that matter. Hell, maybe we’ll cover “Oops I Did It Again” with him and throw it on as a hidden track. (Haha I guarantee there is at least one person who took that last line seriously, and who thinks we are actually going to do that.)

When can we expect the new CD to be out?

Hmmm… I believe our album should be coming out in February or March on Decaydance records and it is going to be produced by the one and only Matt Squire. I actually had dinner with Squire last night. He is the man. Not only is he a great producer, but he’s a cool and genuine guy. Seriously…we are so ready to get to work and bro down in the studio. Even talking about it right now is getting me pumped!

Is your new song "I'll Run" nothing but a demo, or is it going to be a good representation of what's to come with your full length?

"I'll Run" is a really good representation of us as a band and of our songs, but our CD is going to be so different and diverse that I can't say that it fully represents the album. Every song on the album is going to be different from the next. They will all tie in together, but each song will have its own style and feel to separate itself from the rest of the songs on the CD. I'll Run is one of the first songs we wrote with the new lineup and the newer songs are going to be more of who we are as a band, now that we have had time to write and play together for a longer period of time.
Do you think your writing style or influences changed from when you were recording the Glitz and Glamour CD to now?

When we wrote the Glitz and Glamour CD I had only been singing for a few weeks. I was just the guitar player before and had never sung in my life and Cash, our bassist, told me to sing because he liked my voice. At the time I was embarrassed and thought he as crazy, but it seemed to have turned out pretty well. The songs on the Glitz EP are so old and even though they hold a special place in our hearts because those were some of the first songs we wrote, we have definitely grown from them and our music now is much different. Since then, us and our old guitarist have also gone our separate ways. We are now more soulful and poppy, I think I have finally found my niche and groove in this band and with the songs. Although, the new stuff is way different from our older material, I think that our old fans will still dig it. Like I said before, we just play the music we love and feel and hopefully people like it half as much as we do. I have been listening to a lot of Brian McKnight, Maroon 5, Joss Stone, Justin Timberlake, Stevie Wonder, and Robin Thicke lately, so that
will probably come across on the album.
There was an article out recently that mentioned how Pete Wentz was producing a reality show with you guys. Can you give us any more information on that?

It would be my honor to tell ap.net and its readers about this reality show. I have read the replies and people have been saying that this show is another gimmick and we are selling out before we even have an album out. But here's the thing; this show was made to tear down all of the gimmicks and fake stuff airing on TV. Reality TV, besides what people think, IS NOT reality most of the time. This show that we are doing is to finally bring fresh air to television and to show kids REAL reality TV. Pete Wentz is a smart and great guy who knows what he is doing and I can guarantee you he is making this show for all the right reasons. Though some shows are fun and amusing to watch, we aren't eating cockroaches for 50,000 dollars or being sent to a tropical island for 30 days. We aren’t getting plastic surgery to look like famous people or living in a castle attempting to pick a “soulmate” from 50 women. (Although that might be fun) We are just 18 year old kids in a band trying to make it. Being in a band is fun, but it’s hard too, despite what past reality shows have shown. The making of a band does not consist of throwing strangers in a room together and telling them to sing certain songs. Being in a band is about making music with a group of your closest friends and working your ass off. On reality shows with bands you never see bands touring and playing shows in front of 50 kids, or promoting on Myspace for hours a day. You never see the little stuff bands do in between shows to prepare for the next or the sweat, blood, and tears that the members go through. You have to tour hard in a van, promote, write songs, and go through each and every step before you get to the top. Making it is not easy. The real making of a band takes time, heart and energy. This show isn't just another cheesy gimmick aimed and marketed for our CD sales. This is to open everyone's eyes to what the making of a band really is. That's why when we read posts about the show being a gimmick we kind of scratch our heads, because in reality, this show is meant to save everyone from that b.s. We are just regular kids making music, touring, and doing what we love, and that is exactly what we’re hoping this show captures.

You're going out on tour with The White Tie Affair soon and I think it's your first time you've played numerous shows outside your hometown since you've been signed so now that there will be a lot more new fans and people who may only have the impression of you guys from what they've heard on various message boards or their opinions made on the one song on your Myspace, what do you want to achieve on that tour? How do you want people to think of your band after they see you live?

As a band, we want to tour to reach out to as many people as possible. We want to be super solid live and put on the best show possible. There will be people watching us that have never seen us and probably haven't heard of us or our songs before and we definitely want to try to gain them as fans. I am super excited to tour and see parts of the country I have never seen before, and to do all of this while playing music and being with my best friends is a dream come true. After seeing us live I just want people to remember us as a band who has fun playing and who has a lot of energy and style in their music. We do all of this for the people who enjoy our music, so as long as they're having fun, so are we. At all of our stops we are also going to try to be extra personal to our fans. We want to get to know them and know that they mean as much to us as we do to them.
Your Myspace url is /thecabrock though when people check you out, their first instinct is to just type /thecab. According to a user, myspace.com/thecab is actually some kid named Chonor. His profile says he's only 19, and he's English, so he probably wouldn't be much of a fighter. Any plans to take him down and get the more convenient website name?

Haha! Hopefully one of these days we can get the url myspace.com/thecab. Maybe the guy will be cool and give it to us. If not I guess we are going to have to hire a hacker to steal the url or bribe the guy with candy and strippers. One of those two plans should work.

So now after your upcoming tour, when's the next time you'll be hitting the road? Chances of a fall tour or any more dates planned this summer?

We want to tour as much as possible. As of now we have this Purevolume tour in July and then we record in September/October. After that we don't have any concrete plans. Some tour talks are in the works, but nothing is set in stone.
That's about it. Thanks for your time. Anything else you want to say to the readers?

Thank you to everyone who supports us and our music and thank you to everyone who doubts us, posts bad replies about us, and all of the people who just simply can't stand us. You push us and motivate us to work incredibly hard and to make, play, and write music that we love and believe in. I would also like to thank Absolutepunk.net, Crush Management, and everyone at Fueled by Ramen/Decaydance Records. See you soon!

im so impressed with him and everything he had to say. good interview, and im excited for all their upcoming plans.
however i got the impression that none of the songs on the glitz and glamour cd is going to be on their label release...which sucks because i love "drunk love"...also i hope "take my hand" will be on it.

I'm going to be honest, I didn't read all of it because even though he is projecting himself well and seems nice, this is a dragging interview. Asking relevant questions but I have a short attention span haha. I just listened to their demo and it's decent.

I don't imagine that take on the reality show will affect many people's perceptions of it, and perceptions count for a lot, but good luck to them regardless. They seem like nice kids and I still really like what I've heard of their stuff (props to anyone who covers Maroon 5, really).